Hunt
by Daughter of Nature
Summary: Clary and Mattes are sent out of Corus on a hunt together. A series of drabbles written for Goldenlake's 2011 SMACKDOWN.


_A series of drabbles written for Goldenlake's 2011 SMACKDOWN. Since these drabbles are so short and all connected, I figured I'd have a go at putting them all in one chapter, instead of having a separate chapter for each one. _

_If you're interested, check out my profile for the link to Goldenlake and also to The King's Own, where I'll be uploading more Clary/Mattes drabbles. _

…

"What do you think this meeting is all about?" Mattes twirled his baton as the partners waited outside the meeting room.

Clary snorted, her arms crossed. "Nothing good."

"Must be something important, for them to have all this secrecy."

"Just because something's important doesn't mean it's also _not_ not good." Clary was clearly at the end of her patience.

"Mayhap we'll get to go on a hunt," suggested Mattes.

Clary sighed. "Gods, I hope not. But it does look that way."

Mattes smiled. He was ready for an adventure, and while Clary usually got moodier the longer she was away from her husband's arms, there was nobody else he'd rather be with.

…

Tomlan couldn't help but be slightly jealous. He knew that it was all part of the job, and that it was an honour for his wife to be trusted enough with an important hunt like this (not that he knew too much about what it was), but he hated it when she went away.

While he was glad that she would have a good partner at her side while she was gone, he wasn't sure that liked Mattes so much right now. With only a few days to prepare, Mattes was spending a lot of time in their home, hatching plans and preparing for the hunt with Clary. And Tom knew that it needed to be done, but…he couldn't help but resent a little that Mattes was taking up more of the time that Clary had left here.

He especially hoped that there was nothing more than enthusiasm for the hunt lighting up the guardsman's eyes.

Tom sighed. There wasn't any sense in jealousy now. He busied himself with fixing supper for the three of them.

…

"It's the perfect day to start a hunt!" Mattes announced. "It's warm, it's bright and sunny for this time of the morning, and it smells like summer."

Clary glared at him. "Shut your gob, Mattes. I don't know why we had to start this poxy hunt so early in the sarden morning."

"Just because you were swiving your husband until the wee hours of the morning doesn't mean that my joy deserves to be silenced," Mattes retorted. Clary glared at him again, and Mattes felt himself having to shake off an odd pang of jealousy at the thought of Clary giving Tom a passionate farewell.

He glanced at her sideways and smiled. At least he was going to be by her side, day and night, until this hunt was finished.

…

"Horses?" Clary asked incredulously. "My lord, with all due respect, you must be joking."

"No jokes, Clary," Lord Gershom told her. "I suspect that this hunt won't stay in Blue Harbour for long, and only the gods know where it will lead you. I'd rather you were prepared, and you'll have plenty of coin to cover stabling costs and buying a carriage for it if need be."

Clary scowled. "A carriage? I hate being merchants already."

"Horses," said Mattes, his eyes shining. "This is the best hunt ever."

Gershom smiled as he looked between them both. He wondered if Clary realised she'd complained (or at least scowled) about everything except pretending to be married to her partner.

...

Mattes watched as Clary's fingers lingered over the cherry red silk for a moment before she pursed her lips and looked at the seamstress. "I'll have the deep blue wool," she said.

"And an extra dress in the dark red silk," added Mattes. Clary turned to look at him, her mouth slightly open and her eyes wide. "Don't look so surprised, sweetheart," he told her. "You know I love to spoil you." He grinned as he handed over a fistful of Lord Gershom's coin, and Clary was set upon by the seamstress and her assistant for all sorts of measurements.

He smiled as he watched her. They hadn't even left Corus yet, but he was already enjoying pretending to be Clary Goodwin's husband.

...

There was something special about Clary, Mattes decided. He wasn't sure what it was, exactly, but he knew that things with her were different. He'd pretended to be the husband or lover of other mots in the past (off the job as well as on, but they were stories for another time). He'd enjoyed certain aspects of the false relationships (like the time his training partner had had to kiss him in a filthy alley), but he'd never felt so…excited about the entire pretense. They hadn't even left Corus yet, but Mattes had already discovered that Clary got the most fascinating look on her face when he called her 'pumpkin' in front of other people. He grinned to himself. This was going to be the best hunt ever.

...

"Food," Mattes said as they made their way out of the city, "we need food."

"We've got food," Clary reminded him. "I planned out what we would need days ago. Gods, you'd think that with the love you have for your stomach, you'd remember."

"But that was food we'd need for while we're in what you called the middle of sarden nowhere. What about some nice fresh food for today?"

Clary smiled. "Tom took care of that. It's in my pack."

She couldn't help but smile as he immediately began to investigate the contents of her pack. She hoped he'd never find out that she secretly found it adorable; he'd be insufferable for the rest of the hunt.

...

Mattes watched as the seamstress and her assistants wrapped all manner of knotted cords around his partner, measuring her in every possible direction (he wondered if he learned to sew, if she'd let him measure her peaches too). The cherry red silk that he'd insisted on buying for her looked breathtaking when they held it up against her skin. He smiled to himself, only now realising the full range of extra oppurtunities available to him as he pretended to be rich, and her husband.

She'd need to go dress shopping in Blue Harbour again, she'd said. And Mattes, loving husband as he was, would be sure to ask the seamstress there if she had any underthings made of Tyran lace.

...

Mattes couldn't help but be slightly disappointed when he realised that his partner already knew how to ride a horse. She wasn't particularly good at it, mind, but he was out of practice at it himself – he was fairly certain that the last horse he'd ridden was on the way to Corus when he was fresh from the hills and at what Clary would call his most barbaric.

He wrinkled his nose slightly at the lost opportunity; it would have been so easy to offer to help Clary out by having her ride on his horse with him for the first day so that she could learn to ride…or mayhap for the first week, just to be safe.

He looked at her from the corner of his eye. Mayhap she wouldn't be so good at galloping.

...

"This is nice."

Clary looked at her partner and raised an eyebrow. "What's nice?"

Mattes spread his arms out and looked around them. "Everything. The farms. The trees."

Clary scowled. "It's boring and quiet and I can't even see a single person."

Mattes grinned to himself; Clary was a city mot through and through. "It's just as well you married a carpenter and not a farmer," he pointed out.

Clary shuddered. "I'd have made the farmer make do with a big garden in the city," she said.

Mattes decided he liked the peace of the farms…so he spent the next hour fantasizing about Ahuda needing a skillful pair of Dogs to pretend to be farmers and sniff out Rats in the countryside.

...

"I think it's time for lunch, don't you?"

"Lunch?" Clary blinked and looked around her. Now that Mattes mentioned it, she _was_ feeling hungry, but… "We're in the middle of sarden nowhere."

Mattes gave a bark of laughter. "Goddess, you really are a city mot. We'd starve if we waited until we got to a town before we ate." He nudged his horse to the side of the road. "There's a good clearing right here. We can take a rest and eat, and give the horses a rest too."

Clary glared at him as a chuckle escaped. "I can't help it," he protested. "You should see the look on your face at sitting crosslegged on the grass." He gave another little chortle. "It's even funnier when I'm used to you not batting an eyelid at being covered in all sorts of muck on duty."

...

"Clary," Mattes said carefully, "it's getting dark."

Clary swallowed hard. "I know," she replied. She couldn't keep from adding, "it's a little hard to _not_ notice it," but she was proud for not snapping it.

"I don't think we're going to get to another town before nightfall," he said gently. He braced himself for an explosive reaction, but she only sighed.

"I know," she said quietly. "There's nothing to be done about it." She was silent for a few moments. "I've never slept outside of a town before. Tell me what you need me to do, and I'll do it."

Mattes nodded, and started to look for a good place to camp. He knew that Clary wouldn't be _happy_ sleeping outside, but he'd do everything he could to make sure that she was well looked after.

...

Mattes breathed in deep, enjoying the way that the clear night air filled his lungs with freshness. He was enjoying sleeping under the stars again, something that he hadn't done in years, and Clary had built a good-sized fire between them to ward off any hint of a chill…or unfriendly animals. If he turned his head away from the fire, he could just make out the outlines of their horses standing quietly by the trees. He smiled at the feeling of peace that filled him, and decided he needed to be away from the city more often. He was just drifting off to sleep when he heard his partner's voice from the other side of the fire.

"Mattes?"

"Mmm?"

There was silence for a moment. "I don't like this, Mattes." They'd been partners for years, and Mattes didn't miss what she was really saying – _I'm scared_.

As comfortable as he had been, Mattes was up and at her side in a moment, because she was Clary, and that was what partners were for.

...

Clary stared into the darkness, her bedroll pulled right up to her nose and her hand gripping her belt knife. Perhaps her mind would be more at ease if she was facing the fire instead – it would be calming, and she could pretend she was dozing off in front of the fire at home…but it would also mean turning her back on the darkness and being unprepared for any sort of attack.

Any moment now, she was certain that she'd hear her partner's snoring drifting over the crackling of the fire. She was certain that she wouldn't be able to fight the inevitable all through the night, so she gave in now and swallowed her pride.

"Mattes?" she asked softly. She waited until she heard him make a noise in response, and blurted out, "I don't like this, Mattes."

Goddess bless him, he understood what she was trying to say, and he was at her side, bedroll in hand, before she'd even realised he was up.

She'd never been so grateful to have such a good partner.

...

Clary lay still, silently watching as Mattes laid out his bedroll right next to hers. He climbed into it and then pulled her, bedroll and all, into his arms.

"There we go," he murmured. "You're safe now. Nothing to be afraid of." The Clary he knew would've bristled and immediately snapped that she wasn't afraid of anything, but this Clary buried her head into his chest instead. He stroked her back carefully. "Don't worry," he told her, "I'm sure I would've been afraid the first time I slept outside too."

"What if wolves attack us?" Her voice was so quiet that Mattes, close as he was, could barely hear her.

"They won't come near the fire," he reminded her. "Go to sleep, Clary. You'll be safe, I promise."

He lay still, looking into the night, a smile growing on his face as the tenseness slowly left her body and her breathing evened out.

...

Clary's eyes slowly opened at the sound of birdsong. She looked around, remembering that they'd slept outside last night, and apparently not been killed by hungry wolves while they slept. She felt the arm around her middle and realised exactly why she felt so safe and warm. As if on cue, Mattes began to stir, and Clary's face flushed as she remembered being so scared that he'd had to come and cuddle her. It all seemed so stupid now in the light of day.

"Good morning," he murmured in her ear.

"Good morning," she whispered back, not daring to look up at him. "Please don't tell anyone about last night," she said.

Mattes sat up and climbed out of his bedroll, and Clary did the same. "Tell anyone about what?" Mattes asked. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Their eyes met for a moment, gratitude in hers and understanding in his, and they smiled at each other for a moment before they set about getting ready for the day ahead.

...

"I'm sorry that we had to spend another night outdoors," Mattes said into the darkness. "I know you don't like it."

Clary swallowed hard and tried to pretend she wasn't trembling. "At least it's not raining," she replied. "Besides, I've made it through one night already. I'll be fine."

"Are you sure? Because I could-"

"I'll be fine," she said firmly. She was determined to not humiliate herself by needing Mattes to come and cuddle her a second night.

Mattes shrugged; she'd only snap at him if he pushed the subject now. He was just drifting off to sleep when he felt a tug at his bedroll.

"I'm not as fine as I said I was," Clary whispered.

...

"Goddess be thanked," Clary murmured. They'd reached this town (small compared to Corus, but gloriously _alive_ compared to the wilderness of the last few days) just as the sun was starting to dip behind the trees and turn the sky orange. She glanced at her partner – surely he wouldn't want to ride out the other side of the town now?

Mattes grinned at Clary's obvious agitation. His partner was a city mot through and through, and sleeping on the road wasn't wearing well with her. "A proper bed and a good long bath, huh?" he asked. "You'll be the happiest mot that this town's ever seen."

...

"I'm sorry you have to share a bed with me."

"I'm not."

Mattes blinked at his partner in surprise. "I'm not really sorry about it either," he assured her. "I just thought you'd want your own space after the last few nights." Truthfully, he'd have missed holding her in his arms as he had while they slept on the road.

Clary shrugged. "We're pretending to be husband and wife," she reminded him. "And besides, there's no sense in paying for two rooms."

She stretched up and kissed his cheek, surprising herself as much as she did him. "If I wasn't happy, don't you think I'd have warned you to stick to your own part of the bed by now?"

...

Mattes loved the way that travelling worked. Being on the horses all day, just him and Clary and their surroundings, and the occasional interest of other travellers heading back towards Corus.

Mattes loved the countryside. He supposed it was because he'd grown up in the hills – he loved the blue sky, the whisper of the trees, and the smell of the sun as it shone onto the fields around them, and if that made him a barbarian, then so be it.

Mattes glanced at his partner. Clary was a city mot through and through, and while he loved the countryside, she hated it. Oddly enough, Clary was the reason that he'd grown to love the way travelling worked, because Mattes was certain that he would never get tired of seeing the joy in her eyes when they reached another village. He smiled as he caught sight of rooftops in the distance, and pointed them out to her.

...

"Blue Harbour," Clary murmured. They both drew the horses to a halt so that they could admire the view of the port town.

"It looks nice," Mattes commented.

"We're not visiting for fun," Clary reminded him wryly. She shuddered as she thought of all of that travelling and sleeping on the road just for _fun_. She took a deep breath. "Now we can get started on the real work," she said, satisfied.

Mattes saw the eager determination shining in her eyes and felt a rush of affection for her. Whatever their real Dog work ended up being here, he looked forward to doing it by her side.

...

Clary and Mattes gave their horses to the stableboy, and entered the inn that Lord Gershom had recommended. The innkeeper was as friendly as they'd been told he was, and Mattes found himself happily chatting away in no time.

Clary scowled at him and kicked his ankle where no-one would see.

Mattes slid a silver coin across the bench to the innkeeper. "My wife hates the dirt of travelling," he explained with a grin. "Once our room is ready, could you have a chambermaid ready a bath for her?"

"Of course, Master Appleby," replied the innkeeper. "Ah, will you be joining her?"

Mattes glanced at Clary, a grin spreading over his face. "Yes," he said, and tried not to wince as she kicked him more solidly. Gods, pretending to be married was even better than actually being married.

...

Clary was perched on the bed in their room at the inn, watching as the chambermaid filling the bathtub with steaming hot water.

Honestly, Mattes was surprised that she hadn't given in to the temptation of the soft bed and fallen asleep already – they'd been sleeping on the road for the last week and a half, and Clary had _hated_ it.

Apparently, Clary's determination to have a nice, hot bath was a force to be reckoned with. He knew that, really, after so many years of being partners, but it was something he decided to remember more…prominently now that they were on the road so much.

Clary had been miserable and snappish for much of the journey to Blue Harbour, but seeing the happiness on her face as her bath was ready made up for every moment of it.

...

Mattes had been with his fair share of women, but he'd _never_ seen a mot shed her clothing as quickly and eagerly as Clary Goodwin when she was anticipating a hot bath. He watched her, smiling fondly, until she caught his eye and he realised that while he'd seen her bare countless times before, mayhap it still wasn't polite to _stare_.

"What?" she asked, impatient to climb into the hot water.

Mattes shrugged. It was the sort of thing that was impossible to explain, really. He smiled at her. "I'm just happy to see you this happy about having something as simple as a bath," he said. "It's sweet."

Clary blushed.

...

Mattes decided it was time to stop…observing Clary – if she wasn't so eager to get into that hot bath, he was sure he would've been scolded by now. Besides, that nice, soft bed looked tempting. Just because he hadn't minded sleeping on the road didn't mean he wouldn't enjoy the comfort of the inn.

"I'm going to take a nap," he informed her, and began undressing too.

He could almost feel Clary's glare hitting his back. "If you snore and ruin my bath," she said, "I will make you regret it."

Mattes grinned; she was sounding more like the Clary he knew already.

...

Mattes was near to drifting off to sleep – the bed was so comfortable that sleep couldn't be resisted for long. He heard a soft splash as Clary stepped into the bath, and then there were more sounds of the water moving around as she settled down. Mattes smiled to himself as he heard a soft moan of contentment escape her. Gods, she really was adorable sometimes.

"Good bath, I take it?" he mumbled.

Clary gave another little sigh of happiness before she answered. "Remember that time we got completely covered in mud on duty a couple of years back?"

Mattes vaguely remembered it through the fogginess of sleep. "Mmm."

"This bath is even better than that one."

...

Now that Clary was in her long-awaited bath, she couldn't wipe the smile off her face. She was certain that this bath had to be the best one she'd ever had, mostly because she'd had to anticipate it for so long.

Her eyes flicked to where Mattes was softly snoring (despite her warnings, pox rot him) in the bed. Truthfully, though, she couldn't bring herself to mind about the snoring. She'd expected that he would decide it was safest to leave her alone in the room while she took her bath, but he'd decided on a nap instead.

Clary smiled as she looked at the big lump under the covers. She'd never admit it to him, of course, but she was glad for his company.

...

When Mattes woke, the room was almost dark. It had been only a couple of hours from dusk when they'd arrived at the inn, so Mattes wasn't surprised about that, but he was surprised that Clary must've gotten out of her bath and left the room without him waking.

He sat up confused, and then a grin spread over his face at the sight that met his eyes. Clary was stretched out in the tub, her hair wet from a thorough wash, fast asleep.

Mattes was sure it was the most adorable thing he'd ever seen, and he wished that the bath water would stay warm forever so he didn't have to wake her.

...

Mattes sighed and climbed out of the nice, warm bed, knowing that he should do the right thing and wake her. He stuck his hand in to the bath water and winced – it had definitely gone cold.

Apparently that was enough to wake Clary – she jumped and then bit back a shriek of surprise to find him standing right over her.

"Easy," he said. "You fell asleep. I figured that the bath water'd be cold and I'd best wake you."

Clary's teeth had started chattering, and she stood to climb out of the bath. Mattes wished he'd thought to warm a towel by the fire for her, so he made do by wrapping the towel and then his arms around her.

Clary buried her face in his shoulder and smiled.

...

"So," Mattes said. He kept his arms around her and rubbed the bare skin of her shoulders and back to warm her; Clary wasn't complaining, so he figured she was quite enjoying it. "Was it the best bath ever?"

"Mmhmm," Clary answered, her voice full of contentment. "I wish I hadn't fallen asleep though, I'm cold now."

Mattes debated pointing out that he'd noticed, but decided on practicality instead. "The bed will still be warm," he told her, "I only just climbed out of it."

He didn't even have to tug her towards it; she was more than eager to climb in. Mattes wasn't sure if she'd want him to climb in too and cuddle her, but he couldn't stop himself from following.

...

Clary didn't protest as Mattes climbed into the bed beside her. She sneakily taken the warm side of the bed where he'd just been sleeping, but she was still shivering from being in the bath water for so long. Mayhap she should've thought to put her nightgown on first, but it was still in her pack and she hadn't thought that far ahead.

She hesitated for a moment as Mattes moved closer and wrapped an arm around her; she'd forgotten until now that he was only in his loincloth because of his nap earlier. He'd only touched her when she was bare before when she'd wanted her back scrubbed in the baths, and she wondered for a moment if she should let him wrap his arms around her now. The warmth of his skin against hers was too good to be ignored though, and after a moment Clary was relaxing into his arms.

...

Clary woke to a dark room and a grumbling stomach. She heard Mattes chuckle softly and resisted the urge to elbow him – after all, he'd done a good job of cuddling her to warm her up after she'd fallen asleep in the bath. "Shut your gob," she muttered instead. "It's obviously late, and I'm hungry."

"Me too," he admitted, although it was no surprise to her because Mattes was _always_ hungry. He threw back the covers and disentangled himself from her, but he tucked her back into the bed again once he'd climbed out. "I'll see about getting some supper sent up," he said.

Clary smiled and stretched. "That sounds wonderful."

Mattes grinned to himself and decided it was best not to tell her that he mostly just liked the thought of her waiting bare in bed for him.

...

"Clary," Mattes scolded as he entered the room again.

Clary, dressed in her nightgown now, looked over her shoulder from where she was lighting the fire. "What?"

"You're not supposed to do things like that, we're pretending to be rich, remember? We're supposed to get people to do it for us."

"It's sarden stupid," Clary protested. "I'd have been cold for another ten minutes while I waited."

"Bed was warm," Mattes pointed out.

"I'd not have stayed in there when I know they're bringing us up food. It seemed lazy."

Mattes supposed he was mostly just disappointed that she wasn't still waiting in bed for him when he got back.

...

Mattes sighed in contentment, and Clary bit back a smile of amusement – no matter the situation, Mattes could be made happy with a good meal.

"So," he began, "what do you want to do now? Unpack the bags? Go over our plan? Work out where to start tomorrow?"

"Actually," Clary replied, "I know I slept before, but I'm still tired. I'd rather go to sleep now, and go over everything in the morning if you don't mind." She felt guilty and added, "You don't have to sleep now, the candlelight won't bother me."

"It's fine," Mattes said. "I'm tired too." Truthfully, he knew that he wouldn't be able to watch her settling in to bed without wanting to be beside her anyway.

...

Mattes groaned as he realised that Clary was already up and bustling around the room. "It's too early," he complained.

"Sun's up," she replied, unbothered, "and we went to bed early last night."

"Still don't like getting up early," he muttered, and then he realised that she'd unpacked his things as well as her own. He blinked in surprise, and wondered for a moment if this is sort of what it was like to be married.

Clary was picking out her dress for the day, and she hadn't started to nag him to get up yet. He decided he'd stay warm in bed for a while longer and watch her get ready.

...

Clary's skill at dressing herself amazed Mattes. He knew she'd been doing it for years, obviously, and he knew from experience it was easy enough to get a mot out of a dress, but navigating the way into one of those things seemed a lot harder.

Mattes watched quietly from the bed as she pinned her hair back and put face paints on her face. He knew there were knives hidden under the dress, but all the same…she looked so _delicate_. She looked like one of the porcelain dolls he'd seen in a shop window in Tyra once.

He knew Clary would laugh at him and call him a barbarian if he admitted that her delicacy made him want to protect her, so he promised himself that he'd find a way to be overly protective without her noticing.

...

Mattes and Clary had been pretending to be a rich husband and wife on the way down to Blue Harbour; it had been a little strange at first, but after a few weeks they'd become used to it. Mattes had it all sorted – he'd hold her hand when they were in public, and call her names of endearment (like 'sweetheart'), and occasionally he'd give her a kiss on the cheek. It was affectionate, and it didn't disrespect Clary or her real husband back home.

Seeing her like this though, looking small and delicate in a fancy silk dress with her face painted and her hair neatly pinned…Mattes couldn't help but feel protective. He glanced down at her hand, and then slid his arm around her waist instead.

...

Mattes winced in anticipation as Clary turned the facts over in her mind and waited for her to come to the same conclusion.

She sighed. "There's nothing for it," she said. "We're going to have to go to the southern hills."

"Cheer up," Mattes told her. "At least you'll be with someone who knows the area."

Clary scowled. As if it wasn't bad enough that they had to go to barbarian country, they'd be sleeping out in the open on the road again.

Mattes grinned to himself in anticipation. He couldn't wait to be snuggled up to Clary under the stars again.

...

Mattes had told Clary days ago that they were getting close to the area he'd grown up in, and Clary had noticed he was tense with both nervousness and excitement. She'd even taken it upon herself to be especially calm for his sake.

None of that prepared her for when they actually saw people. They didn't look as…well, barbaric, as Clary had expected, but she still nudged her horse a little closer to her partner's.

She followed his lead and dismounted her horse when they reached the people, and watched wide-eyed as Mattes spoke with them in Hurdik. The people seemed just as interested in her as they were in Mattes, and Clary swallowed hard and slipped her hand into Mattes's.

...

Clary stuck close to Mattes's side by the campfire. She'd never thought that she'd get far enough away from home to reach a place where people didn't speak Common, but here she was. Mattes had translated bits and pieces and explained things to her and introduced people to her, but she didn't want to be too much of a burden to him. She settled for giving a friendly smile to one of the woman as she ate the food she'd been given.

She wondered if it was a cultural thing, that the women here touched each other more openly, or if she was so unusual to them that they couldn't keep themselves from touching her hair, her face, her clothing. She looked to Mattes, confused, as one of the women (she thought it was his mother's sister, but she wasn't sure) rested her hands on Clary's hips and made a comment. Mattes's face turned red, and Clary hoped that they'd be back where people spoke Common again soon.

...

Clary was relieved when Mattes told her they'd be sleeping in the same tent. They'd agreed before they reached the area where Mattes's people lived that since they were just passing through and weren't actually hunting here, they'd drop the pretense of being married and rich. It wasn't fair to make him lie to his own family, after all.

Still, Clary had been worried that they'd have to sleep separately. She didn't like the thought of being around strangers who did things differently and didn't speak Common without Mattes by her side to help her.

That, and she'd gotten used to cuddling up to him while they were sleeping under the stars.

...

"Do the women here always touch each other so much?" Clary asked.

Mattes shifted uncomfortably. "They were treating you like family, you should be honoured."

Clary eyed him. "What aren't you telling me?"

He flushed a deep red and gave in. "I sort of told them you're my wife."

Clary's mouth fell open. "_Mattes_, they're your _family_."

"That's sort of the problem," he said sheepishly. "You saw how many female relatives I have – if I told them you were just my friend and partner they'd be nagging at me to find a wife."

Clary glared at him. "I should make you go out there and tell them the truth."

Mattes couldn't help but smile smugly. "You don't speak Hurdik," he pointed out. "You'd have no idea what I was telling them."

Clary thumped him lightly in the chest, and Mattes tried not to grin. He decided it was best not to tell her that his family valued bossiness in a woman and thought she was a good wife…and that his aunt had commented that Clary had good hips for childbearing.


End file.
